#editortips for 06.25.12

@smoulderingsea: Don't try so hard to make your premise unique that you make it entirely implausible. Break plausibility, lose the reader. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: While it helps characterization to get a glimpse of characters' lives, don't give us so much detail it turns into filler. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: It doesn't matter if you write in first or third person. All that matters is writing a good book with a tight, strong voice. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Don't lie and say you received an offer elsewhere just to get bumped to the top of the TBR pile. People will cut you for that. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Having an agent is no excuse to stop self-editing your work before sending it in. You're making more work for them. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: The cleanest writing in the world won't make a difference if there's no actual story there. Craft is about more than grammar. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Don't overdo it on inner monologue. It doesn't add characterization. It bogs readers down in things they could infer. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Constantly waffling back and forth between backstory and present events can be confusing and doesn't reduce the infodump. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Naming places can do a lot to make readers feel grounded. Unless it's a plot device, don't leave your cities/towns/etc. unnamed. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: It breaks POV when you have characters describe themselves as "Sarah, who was a painter by day..." That's omniscient narration. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Don't try to be deep. It shows, and makes the writing read as forced & pretentious. Depth comes naturally and grows organically. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Make sure your book actually has a story and isn't just an endless stream of your avatar shaming everyone who ever hurt you. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: In your query, don't tell me which actor would play your character. I'll think of Zac Efron in Gypsy, not Charlie St. Cloud. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: When I question an intimate scene in your story, the correct response is not "What would you know? You're a man." #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Actually, if an editor or agent goes through the trouble of fact-checking with verified sources, LISTEN. Don't just go "Nuh-uh!" #editortips

@smoulderingsea: People will criticize, mock, and discourage you. Give me one damn reason why it matters. It doesn't. Screw them. Write anyway. #editortips

About #editortips:
#editortips is a daily rash of tweets from an only partially crazy editor, chock full of random chocolatey morsels about writing, editing, and querying vaguely disguised as helpful pointers and/or really bad humor. I tweet as @smoulderingsea, and try to post with some consistency every weekday at 6PM CST. Weekends optional, depending on if I’m spending yet another Saturday night editing because my social life consists of Netflix and building a new line of cost-effective, edible furniture made solely from latkes.